The Year I Read 35 Books

On this special edition of "The Day...", I decided since it is that last day of the year that I would entitle this post "The Year..." and give you a run down of all the books I read this year. I quite honestly don't think I've ever in my life read this many books for pleasure, or for really anything, in a single year. Here's to hoping I can do it again!

1. Grave Sight - Charlain Harris
2. Grave Surprise - Charlaine Harris
3. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
4. An Ice Cold Grave - Charlaine Harris
5. Shakespeare's Landlord - Charlaine Harris
   
6. Always Looking Up - Michael J. Fox
7. Animal Farm - George Orwell
8. Shakespeare's Champion - Charlaine Harris
9. Shakespeare's Christmas - Charlaine Harris
10. Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris
11. Shakespeare's Trollop - Charlaine Harris
12. Shakespeare's Counselor - Charlaine Harris
13. Honeysuckle Summer - Sherryl Woods
14. The Inn At Eagle Point - Sherryl Woods
15. Flowers On Main - Sherryl Woods
16. Harbor Lights - Sherryl Woods
    
17. About That Man - Sherryl Woods
18. Ask Anyone - Sherryl Woods
19. Along Came Trouble - Sherryl Woods
20. The Last Summer (Of You And Me) - Ann Brashares
21. True Colors - Kristin Hannah
    
22. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
    
23. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
24. Stealing Home - Sherryl Woods
25. Real Murders - Charlaine Harris
26. A Slice of Heaven - Sherryl Woods
27. Feels Like Family - Sherryl Woods
28. Welcome To Serenity - Sherryl Woods
29. Home In Carolina - Sherryl Woods
30. Grave Secret - Charlaine Harris
31. Sweet Tea at Sunrise - Sherryl Woods
32. A Bone To Pick - Charlaine Harris
33. Three Bedrooms, One Corpse - Charlaine Harris
34. The Julius House - Charlaine Harris
35. Dead Over Heels - Charlaine Harris

To group these together I have read:

1. The whole Harper Connelly Series by Charlaine Harris
2. The whole Lily Bard Series by Charlaine Harris
3. One book of the Sookie Stackhouse Novels by Charlaine Harris (Because the previous year I had read the books leading up to it and there are no more in paperback yet.)
4. The Chesapeake Shores Series by Sherryl Woods (that's so far in paperback)
5. The whole Trinity Harbour Series by Sherryl Woods
6. The Sweet Magnolia Series by Sherryl Woods (that's so far in paperback)
7. Part of the Aurora Teagarden Series by Charlaine Harris (I'm finishing it up first thing in 2011!)

My least favorite book would have to be The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson and my favorite would probably be The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins because it is really hard to pick a favorite out of a series. And it is really hard for me to pick a favorite series. There was a book that I began reading but just couldn't finish and that was the classic book The Lord of the Flies by William Golding. I will try really hard to finish this one in 2011! And there was one book that I read twice which was Honeysuckle Summer by Sherryl Woods, because I started out reading her books at the end of one of her series so I had to go back and read it again after I read the previous ones! I didn't count it as an extra book though!

I owe finding out about Sherryl Woods to my friend Jennifer over at Crazy Shenanigans. We ironically have the same favorite and least favorite of the year! Maybe next year I will branch outside of Charlaine Harris and Sherryl Woods, but if they keep producing books then I know I will read them!

Do you have any book suggestions for me for 2011?

What was your favorite/least favorite book of the year?

The Day I Knew Santa

Quoting one of my favorite Christmas movies, ELF: "SANTA! OH MY GOD! SANTA'S COMING! I KNOW HIM! I KNOW HIM!"

Be prepared to be jealous people because yes, I do know Santa Claus!

He visited my house back in 1987... take that!

...and hopefully he'll be back tonight if I've been good enough!

Merry Christmas Eve!

The Day I Sort Of Had A Cat

I am very much an animal lover and crave those fluffy hugs! And ever since my Sunshine passed away, I've felt like a part of me is missing. I want a pet badly! More specifically, I want a kitty badly. I feel like a puppy would be hard for me to take care of at this time in my life, but a cat would be purrfect (haha)!

So, I've never really had a cat all for myself. When I was little, my grandparents always had cats that lived at their house but were outdoor cats. I always had a ball naming them, chasing them, and trying to cuddle them though they really didn't want me to (think that little girl Elmyra on Tiny Toons and that was me, and probably still is me!).

When I was about 10 years old, my babysitter got me a cat I named Pixie, but it lived at her house. Then, about 6 years ago I found a tiny kitten (Parker) at the tennis center in the park where I was working that I could fit in my pocket! I called my roommate Corey, mostly because I knew she would want a kitten and be on my side about getting the other roommate (Deb) on board. Well, it turned out that very same day that Deb, who I was so unsure wouldn't want a cat, excepted one (Rory) from someone from where she was working. And that's how I came to partially own Parker & Rory.

After my 2 roommates and I went our separate ways, Parker & Rory went to live with Corey and her fiance Josh. Then, when I moved to Morgantown 3 years ago, I lived with Corey and Josh, and was in kitty heaven once again! Sadly, they moved after that first year and ever since I have wanted a kitty for my own. Hopefully, when I get my job and Phil and I get a place of our own, we will get a kitty or two!

Anna & Pixie circa 1992(?)

Baby Parker (grey tabby) and Baby Rory (peach tabby) when we first brought them home (2004)

Parker, all grown up, in Morgantown (2008) during the kitty photo shoot I conducted

Grown-up Rory in our Morgantown apartment (2008) during the kitty photo shoot I conducted

The Day We Ate Soup

Once upon a time, my friends Lee, Heather, and I used to have a "Soup Day" every Tuesday. These were the days before Morgantown that were set aside for us to get together and eat lunch where soup was most likely involved (because we loved soup).

It wasn't until recently, since I've been home from Morgantown, that we have started Soup Day up again. We have all decided that we have stayed in our little caves (houses) long enough and needed to hang out again. I know that I haven't really been very social since I've been home and their friendship is much needed in my life!

About 2 months ago, we started Soup Day up again by going to eat at a new deli that is downtown. They ran out of their soup, so no soup for us that day. Two weeks ago we tried again when we went to the Harry Potter midnight showing. The menu the restaurant had for this premiere did not have soup on it, so strike two on no soup for us! Then finally, last night we went to our old favorite soup destination of the Marshall Hall of Fame Cafe and enjoyed some lovely french onion soup together! The picture below does not do this soup justice! It was definately delicioso!


We are going to try hard to get Soup Day back to being an every week occurence again. It may be hard to go on a Tuesday every week, but at least will get to be together!

The Day I Shopped On Black Friday

My very first Black Friday experience was not so bad this year, it was actually really fun! I went with Phil, his parents, and his sister. We left the house around 10:30pm and went to Walmart first. Their door busters started at midnight. Phil's family was successful in their shopping and we all sort of helped eachother out.

Phil and I went looking for the $1.96 dvd section. I asked a random girl around the dvds if she had seen them and she said they were over there (pointing the opposite side of Walmart). And, in fact, she was actually hovering over them and pointing me in the wrong direction. This was the only act of unkindness I saw the entire time, but I found what I was set out to find.

I got all 3 of The Lord of the Rings movies for $1.96 each!

The Notebook for $1.96!

And P.S. I Love You for $1.96!

After we went to Walmart, we had a while to wait before any of the other stores we wanted to go to was open. So we went to the Toy-R-Us that had been open since 10pm. We heard that there were 1,000 people in line here when they first opened so we were happy it wasn't that long when we got there. When inside, we found that the checkout line started at the entrance and wrapped around the whole store. We did not purchase anything here.

Next up, we went to the mall. Some stores were already open. Not ones I really cared to go to though. Phil and I walked around for a bit and waited for Radio Shack to open at 4am. We were in the front of the line and got the only 2 -500MB Portable Hard Drives they had, so we got them for eachother for Christmas. We also got a new wireless keyboard and mouse for my parents.

Portable Hard Drive originally $99.99, we got for $50.00 each!

Wireless Keyboard and Mouse originally $29.99, we got for $19.99!

This last purchase was when I went off with Phil's mom and sister. We went to the Shoe Carnival and they gave out so many $10 off coupons for the first so many customers, so I figured I'd find some shoes that weren't very much money so I could spend as little as possible with the money off.

Beaver Creek shoes originally $34.99, on sale for $17.49 but got them for $7.49 with my $10 off card!

After that we left the mall and went to go find somewhere to eat at 6am. After eating, we stopped by Kmart. Then we headed home. By this time we got home and in bed, it was 8:30am! I had officially been awake for more then 24 hours! We then slept until 4:30pm, got back in bed at 2:30am, and woke up again at 2pm. It has been really hard to get back into a normal sleeping pattern, so maybe I can try to remedy that in the morning.

Did anyone else go out for Black Friday?

Were you successful?

What did you get?

The Day I Loved Hamburgers

In sixth grade, I came home from school one day and told my parents "I don't want to eat beef.". And ever since that day, I have never really missed eating it and haven't eaten it again until recently when I felt like I needed to.

Before that day back in 6th grade, my favorite place to have a hamburger was Dwight's Drive-In on 8th Street in Huntington, WV. It was a drive-in and restaurant, so you could go inside to eat or you could stay in your car to order and someone would bring your meal out to you. My mom and I would pull in the drive-in to order and I would get just a single hamburger (no cheese) and it would come with mayo and shredded lettuce. It was the best hamburger ever! I would gladly eat that beef right now if it was possible!

Dwight's opened in 1963. It was a great place which relied heavily upon the nearby college crowd for late night/early morning feedings. Unfortunately, Dwight's closed in 1995 when I was in seventh grade. This little piece of history was demolished and a bank was built in it's place.

The Day We Had A Cabin 2 / Didn't Have A Cabin

This is part 2 of last week's "The Day..." about my family's cabin in Canaan Valley.

Like I said before, we did not use the cabin as a hunting cabin like all the other shareholders did. We used it as a vacation retreat away from all the technology of the time... telephones and television mostly I guess, as well as a free place to stay. We would go to the cabin during all seasons. We'd visit the same places over and over just to see how they looked differently during each of those times. Skiing was a big thing for us and so was going to Blackwater Falls.

This is me and my friend Sarah obviously during the winter to the left of the cabin, which you unfortunately cannot see.

Me and my friend Laura at Blackwater Falls.

Remember how I told you last time that the hunters marked on the wall in the cabin about their deer? Well, we decided we'd do that with the mice we "caught" while staying at the cabin. We used our sharpie right there next to that bunkbed that was in the kitchen! haha

There were so many great memories made while staying at that cabin... bonfires, playing cards in the kitchen, sleeping on the top bunk when it decided to fall down, and looking at the stars that seemed close enough I could touch! And it's sad to me that I cannot ever go back to it. As good as I can get is to go to the area where it once stood. A few years back all the shareholders decided to sell out and my family had to too. Now the land is for sale cause whoever bought it decided it would be better to tear the cabin down.

My parents and I visited it 2 years ago and it was surreal that the cabin wasn't there. The above picture is obviously doctored by me, but this was where the cabin should have been [the bear too!]. I haven't been there since, but there is probably a new house sitting in that spot. I hope I will be able to take my kids there someday and tell them the stories I have told you.

The Day We Had A Cabin

Back in "The Day..." my family partially owned a cabin in Canaan Valley. It was referred to as "The Cabin" and we knew what cabin eachother was talking about. Anyway, this was not the typical log cabin of luxury you see on the Travel Channel, but it was a quaint, made of metal and not very insulated, hunting cabin. This is why it was partially owned by us, cause the other families/people that owned it used it for hunting but we did not.

Let me try to give you more of a description of the cabin. The outside of it was pea green with a silver roof. There was no assigned parking spaces, just grass and a place where we had bonfires. When you walked in the door the first thing you saw were 2 bunkbeds in the kitchen. It had an old timey refrigerator and stove, a cardtable and 4 metal folding chairs. There was a very small tv with antennae on top the fridge that we could never find a channel on. Next to the sink was a wall where all the people who used the cabin to hunt wrote with sharpies the description (their name, what point the deer was, etc) of their hunting experience.

The room next to the kitchen was bedroom #1 with another bunkbed that led into bedroom #2 with yet another bunkbed. There were no doors into each of the rooms. In #1 there were always these old wooden skiis propped up in the corner. This was the coveted room to sleep in cause it got heat from the floor heaters in all the rooms. In #2 there was a sliding door. When you opened the sliding door, there was the toilet. When you closed the sliding door to the toilet, on the other side it opened to where the sink and shower combo was! hahahaha This always cracked me up and it was SO awkward! So if someone was showering, you couldn't use the toilet without the door open. I wish I had pics of this to show you people cause I don't think you are believing me!

Writing this post makes me extremely nostalgic and I wish I could go to our cabin right now... I will continue this "The Day We Had A Cabin" post with a part two next week!

The Day I Just Said No

My mom found some old pictures the other day and I just had to share this one with you guys. It looks like I am the D.A.R.E. poster child! See all those kids in the background? They do drugs, but I don't with my smug-looking face... hahahahaha

This photo was courtesy of 1994.

The Day I Loved Halloween

...and that certainly is every day! If you've been following my blog for the last month, you know I love autumn and I love the different colored leaves. Well, I'm here to tell you that Halloween is by far my favorite holiday! I plan, when Phil and I get us a house, that we are going to go all out decorating and dressing up for Halloween! Phil and I have loved carving pumpkins together ever since we started dating. I want to have Halloween parties too!

***Warning: Lots of Pictures Ahead!***

For this "The Day..." blog, I will show you lots pictures of Halloweens past where I celebrated for this holiday. Hope you enjoy!

Trick-or-Treat 1985 with my cousin Nate.

Trick-or-Treat '89 - a princess!

Two ninjas and a crazy cat - Trick-or-Treat '91 with my cousins Zach & Nate

My 5th grade Halloween Party with my two best friends - 1992.

My friend Heather the witch, with me the pirate! -Halloween 2006

Me as an evil fairy. - Halloween 2007

My rat pumpkin I carved at a pumpkin carving party, with the help of a handy stencil! -Halloween 2008

My pretty eyelashes! -Halloween 2008

My Hulk mask I wore to Cedar Point Halloweekends! We wore them for the picture on the roller coasters... it was funny and warm too! -Halloween 2008

My masked accomplices! -Halloween 2008

Running from the Stay Puft Marshmellow Man at Cedar Point Halloweekends! -Halloween 2008

Phil wanted to be a banana at Target! -Halloween 2009

Some of the girls in my class carved these pumpkins for the dental school carving contest. -Halloween 2009

Phil and I went to the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, WV for their haunted house! I would like to just tour the asylum! -Halloween 2009

Halloween 2010 pictures soon to come!

The Day We Made An Alligator

One of my fondest memories was when my family would go to the beach when I was little and we'd make a sand alligator! I think we did this same thing multiple years in a row! I love this picture because it captures that memory PLUS it shows off all the lovely NEON of the early nineties!

I wish I could show you the other pic I have of my mom's bathing suit, but I know she'd kill me even though she doesn't know about this blog. It was a beautiful black one piece with neon green polkadots!

Have an awesome day!

The Day I Planned A Wedding

And that day is now and has been going on for quite awhile, but today marks 1 year exactly until I get married! I've been scouting out locations around the area where I can have the ceremony outdoors and have the reception close by and indoors. I am very picky about where I want the wedding held, but I think I pretty much have my mind set on where it will be: Sleepy Hollow Golf Course.

I really love that it is called Sleepy Hollow and my wedding will be in October. I also like that there is a covered patio outside where I could have the ceremony if it should [heaven forbid] rain. What scares me about this location is that I can't have my own caterer come in if I don't like the food they prepare there. Phil has been there for a work party and he said the food wasn't all that great. I'm hoping it would be different for a wedding, so we'll see at the tasting.

As for a wedding dress, I love lace! Other than that, I think I'm going to have to see what style looks good on me when I get there.

I also like this one, but would rather have long:

I also LOVE this necklace and earrings I found on Etsy (my new addiction)! They are actually made out of real leaves and dipped in silver! They also have ones in copper, gold...etc.

For bridesmaid dresses, I like the idea of this dress:

But if my girls do not agree, I'm okay with all black and most styles. I like this one though:

Okay, I'm done being wedding OCD for the day, but I will most likely run more ideas by you later!

The Day I Ran Away From Home

I was about 5 or 6 years old on the day I ran away from home, but I actually didn't even run away or leave home for that matter. I remember hiding under my bed and thinking it would be funny if my parents couldn't find me. So there I stayed. I heard them calling for me, opening the doors outside and yelling my name out into the neighborhood. And there I was under my bed giggling when my parents were freaking out. This seemed to go on forever in my little kid mind so I came out and yelled "Surprise!" and laughed a whole bunch. I don't remember getting in trouble for this, but this was probably because my parents were so relieved!

Did you ever run away from home?

Have you ever played a prank on your parents?

The Day I Learned How To Ride A Bike

It wasn't until I was in 3rd grade that I decided I wanted to learn how to ride a bike (without the training wheels). It seemed like all the kids in my class had already learned and I was starting to feel a little left out. So I went home and told my dad that I wanted to try. We went out on the street in front of my house, and that is where I finally learned how to ride a two-wheeler!

I was so proud of myself until my neighbor, who also happened to be my 3rd grade teacher, came walking by and saw me. The next day in school she announced to the whole class that I had learned how to ride my bike. I was so embarrassed and could hear the snickering around the room. I did take great pride though that this is what was known about me and that I was not the kid who sat behind me and stapled his own thumb on purpose!

As I look back on it, I still don't think my teacher was trying to brag on me in a good way. She always was not very nice, even when she followed me to middle school. At least I wasn't in her class then! And then there was her schnauzer that used to bark and chase me when I played outside...

• When did you learn to ride a bike?
• Do you have any embarrassing classroom stories?
• Did you have a certain mean ole teacher?

The Day I Got In Trouble

The one time I ever remember getting in trouble at school was when I was in kindergarten. My classmates and I were seated at our tables, my table had blue chairs, one had red and the other had yellow. They sorta looked like these...

...well, whichever had the quietest table with their heads down got to go out on the playground first. In my mind, that was all that mattered! The red chair table got to go first... "I can't believe she picked them!" said my 5 year old mind. I was so upset that I slowly eyed the teacher, while still keeping my head down, and stuck my tongue out at her. She saw me! Panic went through every cell in my body. That meant that the yellow chair table got to go next and then finally the blue chair table, my table, but not me!

I was lectured and made to sit on the wall during recess while I watched all my classmates have so much fun. How terrible is that!? My teacher also told my babysitter, who picked me up at the end of the day. I remember begging her not to tell my parents, but that didn't work very well even though she felt sorry for me. Well, it must have taught me a lesson though because I never got in trouble in school from here on out!